VisualDx Clinical Decision Support for Ultrasound

Industry Project

Spaceflight on-board medical diagnostic systems need to be intuitive to minimize training time and point-of-care ultrasound is a good fit for this need. VisualDx proposed improving their ultrasound system by incorporating clinical decision support to help non-specialists make accurate diagnoses. First, a set of annotated images will be curated, showing disease conditions, including appropriate variations. Next, space-specific guidance will be expanded, and a work-up module will be developed that incorporates image-based pattern matching and questions regarding symptoms. These features will allow non-specialists with limited ultrasound training to identify potential diagnoses and deliver the best care.

As part of a previous project, VisualDx was able to provide a medical decision support tool that can function on deep-spaceflight missions without access to internet. The previous project included over 100 conditions on the Exploration Medical Condition List (MCL) and the product was built to support the addition of more conditions and modules moving forward. The current project is one such expansion into ultrasound content. Point of care ultrasound is a well-accepted and well-developed mode of diagnostic imaging that requires minimal training for image acquisition, but does require more in-depth knowledge or support to properly interpret the results. By adding an abdominal ultrasound module to the existing VisualDx product, we can now support non-expert astronauts in their medical decision-making related to diagnosing themselves or others using ultrasound devices during spaceflight.

On Earth, the new ultrasound-specific module and content allows VisualDx to continue to expand its applicability in the global health context in the developing world and other under-resourced environments. As the use of portable ultrasound devices grows in these environments, the standalone version of VisualDx is now well-positioned to support lesser-trained health care providers in interpreting the ultrasound results to make better decisions and provide better care. Further, as part of this project, VisualDx created a hierarchy of ultrasound findings for high-yield space-specific abdominal conditions, which in theory can be expanded to other conditions throughout the body that can be diagnosed with ultrasound. To our knowledge, this is the first formally defined hierarchy of ultrasound findings, and the knowledge base being built into this structure can be used to support further VisaulDx content expansion that could eventually have even more impact both in Space and on Earth.

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